How to remove old car decals

How to remove old car decals

The Z to A of Decal Removal

Placing Decals on the side of your vehicle is an advertising option for businesses that increases exposure and a low cost option.

Removing these car stickers, however, can be difficult without the proper preparation and tools.

Thanks to strong adhesive in some of the Decals on the market they have been designed to last a long time

TIP: if ever getting decals installed on your car, and you know they might need removing in the future, ask for the Decal that can be removed more easily in the future. (they are available)

If you do need the decals removed and didn’t ask for the easier to remove decal material, then there is hope…. It just requires a bit of work and preparation

Decal Age Makes a Difference!

The age of a Decal, how long its been on the surface is one of the main determinants of the method you can use to remove the car decal.

Decals that have only been on for a few hours can usually be removed and reapplied fairly easily.

The video at this decal removal website shows how easily the decal can be removed.

That said, most people who need help removing decals are in the situation where the Decal has been on for many years.

If car or truck has been in a climate that is hot, such as Texas, California or desert like places (and no Sydney, Australian, doesn’t count), then the decal can be really hard to remove.

The reason is the adhesive and the decal really start to stick together that makes it incredibly hard to remove.

For new decals installed within the last 24 hours, removing it from the window and re-positioning it should be pretty stress-free. Adhesive in climates that aren’t too hot usually take 40 to 70 hours to properly stick on. This will allow you enough time to make any changes to your car decal installation.

Just remember that decals are generally designed to be used once, so moving a decal around or re-applying it can mean it loses it’s sticking power.

remove-old-car-decal

That said, we recommend you use a “level” to make sure the decal is on straight and avoids having to re-apply the decal.

So if you need to remove a decal within the first day or so and want to re-use it, we recommend you use a plastic razor blade so the shape of the decal is not affected

If you used a whizzy wheel or hair dryer to take of the decal, it will damage, bend, stretch or tear the decal so it will not be possible to use it again.

What’s the best method to remove old car & truck decals off?

Our advice really is based on how quickly you want to remove the decal and whether you want to do it yourself.

I’ll base the conversation around three scenario’

1. You want the decal removed and rather someone else do it.

There are plenty of people who will remove decals for you. We have found they charge around $150 to remove decals off your side door’s and bonne.t This usually takes around 1 – 3 hours, depending on the size of the job and technique they us.

2. You want the lowest cost option and don’t care how long it takes

Definitely get out the hair dryer and find yourself a plastic razor blade. This approach can be time consuming and a little frustrating if the car decal is really old as it makes it hard to remove as the decal only comes off in small pieces.

This cost a few bucks (around $39), though is definitely cheaper the paying someone and quick than the hair dryer. The only downside, is like step 2 (the hair dryer) is that it will take some elbow grease.

People sometimes mention using a metal razor blade to take off the car decal or sticker.

If you go really slow and keep wetting the surface (decal) with the alcohol-water solution until it is removed entirely, then it’s possible. However, it’s really easy to damage the paint work or cut yourself, so we do not recommend this option.

(you can use this option on glass surfaces, though we still recommend you be very careful not to cut yourself).

Assuming you are removing the Decal that will be thrown out, don’t worry if you tear some of the decal as you remove it.

However, you should slowly and with caution as ripping the decal too often will cause you to have more work as the leftover pieces that still appear on the car decal still need to be removed.

Take your time and go slow, and you’ll be able to remove it in hopefully only a few pieces, that will make the job much quicker

Spray it on the surface, wait around 10 – 15 seconds and then start to wipe off. It works really well on car surfaces to take off any left-over adhesive.

Regards, Peter

Chief “Decal Removal” Officer

www.decalstickerremover.com

Wrapping up

We have been getting alot of enquiries from people removing decals in California, Florida and Texas this month. If you live in one of these areas, please share with us your decal removal story, letting us know what did and did not work

This video shows removing a Decal from a car window using a razor. Only shown for demonstration purposes